I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

"Hey...why is this happening?"

Xue Jing nodded in understanding and said:

"That's just how the adult world is, there's nothing we can do about it."

Xue Wan pouted and said, "Why are you, a minor, pretending to know so much about corporate slaves?"

……

In a secluded basement in the southern part of the city.

Li Chengxuan, wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sat in a wheelchair. The dim light shone on him, illuminating his listless and dejected eyes.

A long-haired young man with severe dark circles under his eyes was touching Li Chengxuan's body, checking his condition.

“…Great craftsmanship.”

He exclaimed in admiration, his voice hoarse.

"I really want to have a talk with this person... Every stab caused maximum damage without being fatal. Chengxuan is ruined. Unless some big company arranges a 'super surgery' to completely replace all his organs except his brain..."

He glanced at Li Chengxuan's lifeless eyes and smiled.

"...However, it seems that even if his body is healed, it will be useless, as his mind has been completely destroyed by that Xue Jing."

Upon hearing the name 'Xue Jing', Li Chengxuan seemed to be provoked, his whole body began to tremble wildly as if he had been electrocuted, and his lifeless eyes revealed an almost overflowing fear.

"Ugh—ugh—ahhhhh!!!"

He struggled to flip the wheelchair backward, falling to the ground, still trembling, lying on the ground, covering his head with his hands, looking terrified.

"See, it's hopeless."

The young man laughed.

A slender, pretty young woman with short hair standing nearby couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up:

"Senior Brother Zhang, Junior Brother has already suffered enough. Don't provoke him any further."

The young man shrugged and chuckled twice: "I didn't mean to, Junior Sister Chen."

Junior Sister Chen frowned and said, "What exactly happened to you, Senior Brother Zhang? You weren't like this before. You clearly loved Junior Brother the most..."

"People change, that's normal," the young man said nonchalantly.

He turned to look at his mentor, Jiao Hongyuan, who had been sitting silently beside him.

"Master, what do you want with us?"

He spoke casually.

"Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm actually quite busy and don't have much free time..."

Jiao Hongyuan glanced at him expressionlessly.

"Busy? Do you really think I don't know what you've been doing since you got back?"

The young man narrowed his eyes slightly: "Oh? What do you know?"

Jiao Hongyuan's face suddenly turned pale. He took out several tissues, covered his mouth, and began to cough violently.

"Cough!! Cough cough—!!"

I didn't recover until I was coughing so badly I almost fainted.

Those tissues were already soaked in blood that was so red it looked almost black.

"...Our Golden Wind Dojo has no way out."

His expression revealed exhaustion, and his physique, which was much more robust than it had been a month ago, had become so thin that he looked like a truly frail old man, his whole being aged beyond measure.

"You are my personal disciples... There's no escaping it; you can only follow me down this dark path."

"I've called you here to warn you."

"Don't cause any trouble lately... Everyone better keep quiet, especially you, Renxu."

Jiao Hongyuan looked at the young man surnamed Zhang.

"At least for the next two weeks, you can't cause any more trouble... I don't know what you went through in the inner ring. Maybe I've neglected to care for you, but at least for the sake of our past teacher-student relationship, don't make things difficult for me."

He then turned to the young woman surnamed Chen: "Wenyan, keep an eye on him and don't let him out of your sight."

Chen Wenyan nodded. "I understand, my mentor."

Zhang Renxu clicked his tongue but didn't say anything.

"In three days it will be Zong Jinkui's seventieth birthday banquet. He has a good disciple who has already established himself in the inner ring. We will inevitably have trouble with them in the future... All the direct disciples of Jinfeng Dojo who are still able to move must go there on that day."

"Absolutely do not cause any trouble, do you understand?"

Jiao Hongyuan solemnly gave his instructions.

……

Half past eleven in the evening.

In half an hour, it will be New Year's Day, and time will be moving from the year 267 to the year 268.

Xue Jing stood on the balcony, his elbows resting on the railing, a bottle of cola in his right hand, looking up at the sky.

"Boom--boom--"

Fireworks exploded continuously in the sky, their colorful flames reflecting on his face, making him look exceptionally beautiful.

The cat sat on the railing, its tail, which was wrapped in a ring, swaying back and forth as it watched the fireworks with him.

His phone kept vibrating in his pocket, filled with New Year's greetings from relatives and friends. Xue Jing ignored them, simply watching the fireworks and drinking his cola with a sense of contentment.

He felt the colorful fireworks reflected in his pupils, and a strange realization welled up in his heart.

Fireworks are fleeting, and it is precisely because they cannot last long that they achieve their ultimate brilliance in a single moment—a truth that everyone agrees on.

Unconsciously, Xue Jing's pupils turned a divine silver-white.

The fleeting nature of fireworks is also ordained by fate...

"Ah Jing, let's go set off fireworks too!"

Xue Wan excitedly pushed open the glass door to the balcony and called out.

Unwittingly, she saw Xue Jing's silvery-white pupils and the colorful, magnificent fireworks reflected in them.

In an instant, she was captivated by that indescribable, absolute beauty and stood frozen in place.

After an unknown amount of time, Xue Jing came to his senses, and the silvery-white color in his pupils faded.

A prompt appeared on the panel.

[You had an epiphany while watching the fireworks, gaining +1567 combat experience points.]

[You had an epiphany while watching the fireworks, and your Contemplation Experience Points increased by 1849]

He turned his head and saw Xue Wan standing frozen at the door, so he walked up to her and snapped his fingers.

"Back to God."

Xue Wan regained her composure, and a blush immediately appeared on her beautiful face.

How could this be... that I would be so captivated by my own younger brother's good looks?

That's so embarrassing...

Xue Wan coughed lightly: "What happened just now? Why did your eyes change color?"

Xue Jing smiled and casually said:

"Watching the fireworks just now gave me some new insights into martial arts."

Xue Wan was skeptical: "What can you learn from watching fireworks? It's not like a martial arts novel..."

Xue Jing smiled, offering no explanation, and simply said:

"Let's go, didn't you want to set off fireworks?"

Xue Wan's eyes lit up: "Oh right, let's hurry, I know a good place..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xue Jing vanished from her side in an instant.

The next moment, they appeared at the doorway.

A magnificent trail of colorful flames appeared between the balcony and the doorway, lingering for a long time.

"What...what is this?" Xue Wan's eyes widened.

As Xue Jing changed his shoes, he said:

"The newly mastered technique... well, let's call it 'Flame Strike'."

The ultimate move in Tianya Mingyue Dao: Flame Continuous Colors.

This was a new way of using the Heavenly Will Blade that he had inexplicably figured out while watching the fireworks.

Heavenly Blade... This martial art was derived from the essence of the 'Asura Blade'. It only has the essence, without any moves or methods of exerting force.

Therefore, the killing moves and profound mysteries derived from the Heavenly Blade are all quite 'idealistic'.

Both Cherry Blossom Moon and Flame Continuous Colors are moves without specific methods of exerting force; they are executed entirely through the application of mental power.

This newly mastered 'Flame Continuous Colors' is a technique that explodes at lightning speed.

Using mental power to interfere with one's own reality, simulating a fleeting firework, bursting forth in an instant to close in and kill the enemy.

Similar to Full Moon Cherry Blossom, although it doesn't have the exaggerated full-screen effects of Full Moon Cherry Blossom, this move still has special effects when used due to the overflow of spiritual energy.

It will leave a colorful trail of fireworks behind it...

"This is so beautiful! So gorgeous! I want to learn how to do it too, can you teach me, Brother Jing?"

Xue Wan's eyes lit up as she clung to Xue Jing's arm and acted coquettishly.

Xue Jing chuckled and said, "I'll definitely do it next time."

……